NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer - Previews @ Gamespot, Gamespy & IGN

September 20th, 2007, 10:47

In more NWN2:MoTB news, the first new previews following the recent media presentation at Obsidian's offices are beginning to appear. These 3 are just out at Gamespot, Gamespy and Ign respectively. WARNING:There are definitely some SPOILERS in these hands-on previews, so if you want the game to be a complete surprise, you may want to stop reading here.

Spoiler –SPOILERS

Gamespot goes into some detail on how Obsidian has given a plot-related cost to the former 'rest and refresh' system in NWN2:

If NWN2 had a weakness, it was the ability to rapidly rest after every battle, which let you fully heal and recharge all of your magical spells in about five seconds. Consequently, the game seemed a bit too easy. You weren't forced to make the hard choice about using a fireball spell or saving it for later on. Mask of the Betrayer has an interesting solution to this issue, and it's tied heavily into the plot.
The dark hunger that resides in you forces you to consume spirits to survive (the magical kind, not the alcoholic type). You become a spirit-eater, an entity that is feared in that region of the world—exactly how you find and devour spirits is something that will be revealed over the course of the game. Unfortunately, being a spirit-eater is a lot like having a drug addiction. The longer you go without consuming a spirit, the weaker you become, until you eventually die. However, if you eat too many spirits too quickly, it's like being addicted to a drug. You'll need to consume more and more spirits just to get the same level of satisfaction as before. So the trick is to balance spirit consumption carefully. A spirit meter will show your character's current hunger level, and it slowly drains while you play the game (though it pauses during conversations). If you rest in the game, you lose a fair amount of your spirit reserve. So if you rest repeatedly, you'll find yourself in big trouble quickly.

Gamespy gives some information on the setting and the Plane of Shadows:

The Rashemen city of Mulsantir will act as the "hub city" in the game, the place where much of the storyline plays out and the majority of the game's quests will be garnered. Mulsantir, like most of the other game locations, also has a dark reflection of itself on the Plane of Shadow that the players will visit. The Plane of Shadow uses a new color desaturation technique (that will be available to modders) to turn everything except the color red to black and white. In these shadowlands, certain truths are revealed so a small, benign temple of a god of healing in the "real world" is instead a huge cathedral to an evil deity. A collapsed pier in an otherwise ordinary swamp is revealed to be whole in the Plane of Shadow and it leads to the home of a group of hags called the Slumbering Coven.

IGN covers the races, feats and new prestige classes, as well as the revamped influence system:

The influence meter that's found in MotB is similar to what we saw in KOTOR II, but a bit more refined, with actual ramifications to consider. In the example that we were given, the party that we were traveling in had two companions that were on entirely opposite ends of the morality spectrum. One was Kaelyn, a half-angel, with a more divine and kind sensibility, while the other was One of Many, an incorporeal demon, who was evil through and through.
As you gain more influence with Kaelyn, it would eventually unlock new talents that you can only get through her that were probably a bit more geared to defense, while One of Many had a handful of dark powers to imbue upon you, should you prove that you're worth his trouble. The only problem is that you can't possibly get a solid reputation with both, as when you gain influence with one, it goes down with the other. Eventually, if you gain too much influence with one, it won't sit well with the other, and they'll eventually leave the party. If you really upset a companion, they may even turn on you and attack, forcing you to battle a formidable opponent.

Yeah, I thought they went into a lot of unnecessary detail; previews didn't use to be *quite* this hands-on. OTOH I found it all interesting and positive as far as the game went, and I guess you're going to be exposed to much of this stuff pretty early in the game.

And much as I hate to admit it, as an incentive to buying and playing MotB, the ploy seems to be working on me. The descriptions of the Plane of Shadows elements probably would have been enough for that, though.

Edit:I went ahead and wrapped the quoted text in Spoiler tags here in this thread(thanks for that feature, Arhu) so it's less tempting for those who want to remain UNSPOILED

I hope that this isn't the last expansion pack. Has Obsidian said if there are intentions for another one? I would love to see another fresh, brand new adventure from level 1. I could easily go through one 50+ hour D&D adventure every year. What a shame there aren't more.

Well, unless this one utterly bombs, I doubt it's the last. They've spent a lot of time and money correcting and polishing, putting in this and that etc, plus I think I've heard it said that the guys at Obsidian call MotB "NWX1".
It makes sense they would build on these improvements for future projects (and future $$$). If it follows the pattern of the NWN1 expansions though, I doubt they'll start you at level one—-might have to wait for NWN3 for that.

I don't know. Plannings for NX1 started before NWN2 was released so that could be an optimistic term. I think it depends on how well NX1 sells. In fact, NWN2 sold less than NWN1, so there have to be good arguments for another expansion. And what about Premium modules just like for NWN1?

I think NWN1 has sold over a LONG period of time, helped along by the modding community and online play. NWN 2 does not yet have that luxury, since there are insufficient mods to generate those extra sales!!

Originally Posted by Avantenor
And what about Premium modules just like for NWN1?

So far as I gathered from Patrick, the Premium mods were more about showing continued high-level support for NWN … so I think we'd need to wait a bit, but hopefully there is some sort of incubation going on.

Personally I think that a Premium mod program, particularly in MP and PW mods, could be a solid shot in the arm for NWN2 … and worth them spending a few bucks on.

Could we maybe keep spoilers off the front page? Particularly details which are meant to surprise the player, like the bit about the Plane of Shadow. I appreciate spoiler warnings on links, but in this case I saw it after I'd read the quote.

Originally Posted by magerette
Well, unless this one utterly bombs, I doubt it's the last. They've spent a lot of time and money correcting and polishing, putting in this and that etc, plus I think I've heard it said that the guys at Obsidian call MotB "NWX1".
It makes sense they would build on these improvements for future projects (and future $$$). If it follows the pattern of the NWN1 expansions though, I doubt they'll start you at level one—-might have to wait for NWN3 for that.

They're not following the pattern of the NWN1 expansions. Shadows of Undrentide started you at level one. A new start at a low level (not necessarily one) also seems likely for NWX2. If Mask of the Betrayer leaves you somewhere in the thirties, there's really nowhere left to go after that. You've picked up all of the interesting class abilities you're going to get, and you're tougher than just about anything in Faerūn. I can't imagine them expecting us to grind myrmyxicuses and other Fiend Folio content we've never heard of.

— Statues wouldn't be better if they could move. Model airplanes would not be better if they were the same size as airplanes.